how to find my (realistic) dream van

[gabby]

hi folks,<br><br>so i've put a lot of thought lately into what exactly it is i want out of a moving home, and i was wondering if you could add your experience to it &amp; tell me if it's realistic:<br><br>1.stealth is important to me, as i'll be in urban areas a lot. so i'm looking at a cargo van, maybe an e-series ford - the minivans look too small for me (i'm 6'2") and have too many fancy trim like tvs and power windows and junk that i don't need. and something like a camper shell on a pickup, or a trailer, sound really awful strealth-wise.<br><br>2. cheapness: another reason i like the cargo vans is they're cheap. $2500 is about the max i can spend on a car, when i factor in all the other costs for gas &amp; repairs &amp; of course the conversion itself (although i plan to do this as cheaply as possible). cargo vans also seem to get the best gas mileage, from what i can gather.<br><br>3. diesel: if at all possible i'd like to get a diesel van, with plans to convert it to run on veggie oil (which i've done before). even before that, i like diesel engines since they last longer and usually get better mpg. the only thing that gives me pause here is from what i've heard, cargo vans are a real pain to work on, due to their cramped space, so that might make the svo conversion a pain. i've also head not-so-good things about the powerstroke engines, too.... but unfortunately i probably can't afford anything with a cummins engine in it (i think?)<br><br>4. simplicity - i don't need very much inside, just a butane stove and a cooler and a bed and some storage space (including a spot for a bicycle &amp; probably some sort of oil-filtration setup). i'll probably hook up an inverter with a deep-cycle battery or two, for led lighting &amp; phone-charging. and maybe, a sink that drains beneath the floor, fed by a 3-gallon jug of water. and a ceiling vent of some kind. i don't need a shower or a toilet or a propane hookup or a water pump or a/c. hooking up solar panels is a long-range dream but i probably won't have the $$ for that for a while.<br><br>the plan is to find a van somewhere near new york (where i'm stuck &amp; soon to be homeless at the moment), load all my crap into it, and drive it to the west coast.<br><br>considering all that, does all that sound doable for about 3 grand? are there any particular vans you'd recommend? do you want to totally blow my cargo-van theory out of the water &amp; suggest another type of vehicle? i'd love to hear your opinions, as i want to make sure i do this right and enjoy it as much as possible.<br><br>thanks, and i've been enjoying what i've been reading from y'all so far<br><br>-gabby<br><br>

 

[romani10]

Gabby, your'e plans are realistic if you can do the work. But if you need a van quick for stealth and in order not to be homeless, you gotta jump in. The cummins engine idea will not be feasible with your funds. I've done 2 conversions. My first was a short bus with a diesel engine. I checked it from top to bottom before I bought it. After I spent a lot of money on the conversion, it blew the engine. I then graduated to a box truck gasser. LED lights are expensive. So are <i>good </i>inverters. I am on my third inverter. If you pick one from the bottom of the barrel, it will fail. If you only have $3000, Most of that will go to an older gasser van purchase price. I got my conversions on ebay, but of course you have many different sources for buying.<div>&nbsp; Bottom line is, the conversion will cost you much more than you think if you want to be comfortable. But there are ways to do it cheaply. And you need to have something set aside for the possibility of breakdown (I learned this the hard way) so you are not stuck somewhere you don't want to be.</div>

 

[cyndi]

Speaking as someone who shopped for years, before purchasing...<BR><BR>As mentioned above, the deisel will be pricier than your budget.<BR><BR>I practically lived on craigslist, kijii (ebay classified) and a couple of other sites in order to jump on a vehicle before it got sold.&nbsp; The vehicle I finally bought, although not my dream home, is more than adequate. While I was there looking it at, the seller had one guy call him 6 times to see if it was still available and had several other callers.<BR><BR>The deals are out there, but they don't last. I can't count the number of vehicles I missed because I have a minimum of an hours' drive to civilization.<BR>

 

[WanderingRonin]

Try to find one with a high roof... Otherwise, it seems your plans are right on track. Just don't wait too long. I have a Ford e-350. It's not perfect, but it came at the right time and moment so I just went for it. Thankfully, I did for my apartment lease came up and I did not renew anymore. There was just enough time to get used to my van and pack it up and move out. <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"> Good luck, mate!

 

[Seraphim]

My best friend's a retired mechanic - owned his own business for 32 years. He recommends avoiding the older diesels. A load of potential problems expensive to repair. Just passing it on.

 

[Les H]

Think about state sales and auctions if you have the time to devote to looking. My "van" is a 2000 minibus that was a NYS prison transporter. Because I have left it dark green with tinted windows, it has a kind of " obvious" stealth to it. That is, people still assume it is an official vehicle, unless they look at the plate and see that it is registered as an Rv. I paid $1800 for it a year ago and it had 95kmi on it. I have put 25 k on it since then and spent around $1500 on repairs and conversion, - but I did every bit of the work myself. My bus has the 350 Gm engine, but it was very common to have diesels in them. My own experience with older diesels is that the fuel costs more to buy, negating any benefit you might get from slightly better mpg. They are also more costly to maintain than the same engine in gas format. I have never run veggie, but I know that it is a commodity that is sought after, the days of slipping behind your local diner and emptying thier vat for free are pretty much gone.
I also just bought a 2001 blazer 4 dr 4x4 that was a power company (TVA)
supervisors truck in pristine condition with 120 k on it for $3800, $1500 below blue book retail price. So deals are out there, but as someone said, you may have to kiss a lot of frogs first, and be ready to act quick if the right deal comes along, or someone ele will.
Good luck with the hunt.
Les

 

[gabby]

romani: thanks for the hard truths! yeah the inverter price was the reason i didn't have one on my last housetruck -- just recharged the boat batteries with a battery charger whenever i was close to an outlet. the results were... pretty underwhelming, really. especially in below-freezing temps. i ended up just using my headlamp most nights (stealthier that way anyway) <br><br>cyndi: thanks, i'll keep looking! never heard of kijii, i'll check that out. getting to the actual physical truck in the first place seems like the real challenge, and irony, for anyone who doesn't already have a car. and when you get there, who knows if you'll have time to take it to a shop to check out? a lot of this seems to come down to a dice roll, for folks who don't have a lot to spend.<br><br>wandering: yeah i have to admit that the hightops are alluring, even though i (for no real reason) feel like they de-stealth me... but at my height this would probably be an investment that significantly prolongs the life of my spine...<br><br>seraphim: thanks, yeah i believe it. i sold my npr just a month or two before it started demanding a lot of costly repairs (although i think that was partially bcs the new owners weren't heating/filtering the veggie oil enough)... and when my starter died, even the rebuilt crappy starter i got off ebay set me back almost $300 (minus labor, which i did not pay myself for haw). anything from a shop, even rebuilt, they were quoting me at $500-$600. woof. that's almost a whole new car. if i get a smaller non-diesel engine it'll be a treat to buy parts that aren't worth more than a month's rent. although i'm gonna have to give myself a crash-course in sparkplugs. diesel's all i know!<br><br>les: i like the obvious stealth idea - although i wanna avoid registering things as rvs or commercial (my last truck, an isuzu npr, was in a really frustrating legal gray zone about that and i'm pretty sure that the insurance progressive sold me was invalid -- ie if i ever did get into an accident they'd claim my truck wasn't covered by their insurance. they still happily cashed the checks i sent them though)<br><br>&nbsp;and yeah i've been tempted by the auctions but have heard mixed reviews. in fact just yesterday i saw a sweet dodge sprinter being towed down the street with a huge SEIZED BY US MARSHALL sticker on it - i wanted to chase it down to bid on it<br><br><br>anyway thanks everyone for the advice. a friend just tipped me to a $2k conversion van her friend's selling.... maybe i'll wait until my next lottery winning to get back into diesel/grease. [insert sadface emoticon here]<br><br>

 

[bantamcattle]

another option for a stealth high top is a van with a wheel chair loader/lift on it. i've seen at least 2 in my last search (one had the raised roof but also had a lowered floor! - http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/2716164581.html - more expensive than i remember. this ones awesome but looks like a camper - http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/2674733646.html). those 2 aren't the best examples as i've seen ones around town that obviously have been reconfigured for use with a lift, like doors that continue into the hi-top area. maybe people would not think of someone living in it, even with the high top. much window tinting would be needed and maybe lift removal but these could be cheap and with low miles.<br><br>best of luck with the friend's conversion. i often hope of finding a person to purchase from as apposed to staring at the cpu so much!<br><br>

 

[Les H]

"shrug" when I was in Ny, the guy I bought it from ( who originally got it from the auction and only drove it for 4 months) had it registered as a regular passenger van. Then he removed the seats and sold it to me. I registered it commercial, as it was covered by my contractors policy for only $300 a year . When I swapped plates in Ala, I was told according to thier computer, it qualified as an Rv. Much cheaper plates ( only one, here called a "tag") and even lower insurance rate.
"shrug", grin. Who am I to argue?:0)
Les

 

[gabby]

bantam: i've seen a lot of those wheelchair lift models in the cargo vans... i stayed away from them since 1) i didn't need a lift, and 2) i figured the lift would be all sorts of bad for the van -- the suspension, the mpg, etc. and i get the feeling from the people i've talked to that taking them out is no easy job. but i have seen some good ones....<br>

 

[akrvbob]

I think you have a good plan! Its hard to beat a cargo van for cheap stealth. I have a friend who is doing exactly what you are talking about and he lives in San Fransisco which is notorious for being anti-vandweller. My friend has done the minimum conversion in his cargo van but it meets all his needs. <br><br>I do think that gas engines are better than diesels for most people. A Dodge van with the 318 V8 can get 20 mpg which is better than any of the diesels that were put in vans. Plus, maintance and repairs for diesels are extremely expensive, much more than for gas engines. <br><br>$2500 should get you a decent cargo van, just be sure to get it checked out by a mechanic before you buy. When you get out West, stop by, my camp is always open to visitors!! Bob&nbsp; &nbsp; <br>